Air-brake



(No Modem' G. S. LEB, A111 BRAKE.

557 511 Patented 115531,1895.

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AN DREW BLRANAM. PHDTb-LITHO WASHINGTON. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE S. LEE, OE IIAVTI'IORNE, NEXV JERSEY, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNEASSIGNMENTS, TO THE NATIONAL AIR-BRAKE COMPANY, OF NEV YORK, N. Y., ACORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

AIR-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 557,511, dated March3l, 1896.

Application iiled December 2l, 1895. Serial No. 572,890. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE S. LEE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Hawthorne, in the county of Passaic and Siate of New Jersey,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Air-Brakes; and Ido hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention has relation to air-brakes, and has for its object theprovision of an automatic governor adapted to govern and control thatclass of air-brakes in which air for the operation of the brake iscompressed and stored in a reservoir by a pump and mechanism forcommunicating motion to the pump from the axle of the car, theconstruction and operation of my improvement being such that when anydesired maximum degree of pressure has been attained the governor willdisconnect the pump-operating mechanism, and when the pressure hasfallen to any desired minimum the governor will reconnect thepump-operating mechanism so the compression and storage of air will beresumed.

In applications for patents pending concurrently with the present I havedescribed in detail the construction and operation of the severalmechanical structures which constitute the complete air-brake, and inthe following specification I will specifically describe theconstruction and operation of the automatic governor and briefly referto so much of the other parts of the complete organization as may benecessary to a proper understanding of the governor.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a centrallongitudinal sectional view of the governor. Fig. 2 is a longitudinalsection on the line of Fig. l; Fig. 3, a central longitudinal section onthe line y y of Fig. l.

A A' designate hollow cylindrical members secured together by ascrew-coupling and constituting a cylinder larger at one end than theother, the larger section A having its end closed by a head A2, providedwith a stuffingbox As, through which passes a pistonrod carrying twopistons A5 and A, the former fitting and working in the larger part A ofthe cylinder, while the latter iits and works in and the piston A5 isformed integral with the section A7, while the piston AG is integralwith the section A8. Suitable packing a5 a6 is applied to the respectivepistons, which move simultaneously as an integral structure. A lever Fis pivotally connected to the end of the piston-rod A7, and is alsoconnected to and by its movement serves to connect and disconnect theclutch which is interposed between the axle of the car and the pump.Upon the end of the cylinder is screwed a valve-chamber B, having twovalve-seats I) b and valves b2 b3, formed on a stem b4, the valvesseating oppositely to one another, so that as one is closed the other isopened. The stem b4 extends beyond the valve b3 and is socketed toreceive the end of a follower b5,

' which is carried by a compression-spring b",

contained in a casing b?, the other end of spring bl bearing on aflanged screw-plug b9, which screws through the head bs of the casing57, and by means of which the tension of the spring 116 is regulated.

A pipe O leads from the valve-chamber to a compressed-air reservoir, anda branchpipe O leads from the pipe O to a chamber O2, containingpressure-regulating valves arranged on the side of the section A of thecylinder. This chamber O2 is cylindrical in cross section, and containsthree pistonvalves C3 C4 C5, mounted on a sectional stem O6, and thestem and valves are pressed toward the end of the chamber into which thepipe C enters by a compression-spring O7, that bears against the valveC3 and at the other end bears against a flanged screw-plug O8, thatscrews through the head O9 of the chamber and serves as a means foradjusting the tension of the spring. A by-pass pipe D is connected withthe chamber C2 above and below the valve O5, and a valve D is arrangedin said by-pass pipe, being pressed against its seat d by acompression-spring d', and the stem cl2 of the valve projects into thechamber above the valve O5, a beveled su-rface d3 IOO on the end of thestem contacting with abevcled surface c on the valve C5, serving toclose and hold firmly in position the valve D when the valve C5 is movedby the pressure of air in pipe C.

Operation: lVhen, by the rotation of the car-axle and consequentoperation of the pump, the pressure in the air-reservoir has reached amaximum of, say, fifty-one pounds, the valve h2, the function of whichis to admit air under predetermined pressure to the cylinder A', will beopened against the pressure of spring lf', which has been regulated bymeans of the screw-plug b9 to exert a closing pressure of fifty poundson the valve b, while the valve b3, which controls the exhaust from thechamber A, will be closed and the air will enter under the piston A, andwill force up the piston-rod ATAS, and operate the lever F to throw outof engagement the clutch that connects the driving-axle and pump,thereby stopping the pump. Prior, however, to this operation, and aftera pressure of thirty-six pounds has been gained, the air will haveentered the chamber 2 through pipe C', and forcing up the valves C3 C4C5 will have closed the valve D' in the by-pass pipe D and opened a portf, leading from cylinder A to the space in chamber C2 between the valvesC3 and C4, from which space there is a free passage to the open airthrough a port j". Then the pump is stopped at fifty pounds pressure bythe movement of pistonrod A7 AS and pivoted lever F, the pump willremain inactive until the air-pressure has been reduced sufficiently toallow the spring CT, which has been regulated to exert apressure ofthirty-live pounds, to push down the stem C6 and open the valve D of theby-pass pipe D, and allow air to enter the cylinder A, above the pistonA5, through a port f3, whereby the piston is depressed to its seat onthe end of cylinder-section A', and the pump is set in motion by thedownward pull of the piston-rod AT on the lever F.

The foregoing operations are repeated automatically from time to time asthe pressure in the air-reservoir reaches the desired maximum orminimum, and thus the proper and safe pressure requisite for efiicientoperation is constantly preserved.

I'Iaving described my invention, I claiml. In a governor for air-brakes,the combination with a chamber containing pistons of different areas, ofmeans for admitting air at diiferent pressure alternately andautomatically in contact with said pistons to operate the same,substantially as described.

2. In a governor for air-brakes, the combination of a chamber havingsections of different area, pistons of different area fitting saidchamber, a spring-valve adapted to admit air under determined pressureto the piston of lesser area, and a spring-valve adapted to admit air ata lower determined pressure to the piston of greater area,substantiallyas described.

In an automatic governor for air-brakes, the combination ofa chamber insections of different areas, pistons working in said chambers, means forautomatically admitting air under pressure to the piston of smaller arcaand automatically releasing the air from the chamber of greater area andmeans for cutting off the supply of air at high pressure releasing theair from the chamber of lesser area and simultaneously admitting air atlower pressure to the piston of greater area, substantially asdescribed.

4. In an automatic governor for air-brakes, a chamber in sections ofdifferent area, pistons fitted thereto and mounted on a common rod, avalve admitting air at a predetermined maximum pressure to one of saidpistons, a valve connected to the supply-pipe operable by a decrease ofpressure to a predetermined minimum and a third valve operable by thesaid valve on the supply-pipe to admit air under the minimum pressure tothe other of said pistons, substantially as described.

5. In an automatic governor for air-brakes, the combination with acylinder and piston, of a valve controlling the inlet and exhaust on oneside of said piston and automatically `operable by air under lowpressure to open the inlet and close the exhaust and by air under highpressure to close the inlet and open the exhaust, with a second valvecontrolling the inlet and exhaust on the outer side of said piston andoperating to open and close the inlet and exhaust on that side underreverse conditions of air-pressure, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aiiiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE S. LEE. lVitnesses:

THOMAS A. CoNNoLLY, ANTHONY A. CoNNoLLY.

IOO

